Thank you for the reminder of the rules. I googled and found this forum based on a case I am interested in.

I am use to being able to voice my opinion if I disagree with someone in a forum. That is the normal way for most forums to operate.

Generally that creates an atmosphere where people can learn from each other and make their points.

I now realize that this forum has no intention of seeing both sides of the story. It instead serves as an outlet for people who have had loved ones incarcerated to discuss how once incarcerated, they have been wronged.

I humbly appologize to all that I have offended and wish that your affected "victims" receive justice.

This needs Federal attention. Start making moves outside SC. The one thing SC can't stand is to have their ignorant right wing attitudes exposed. Call 60 minutes, Dateline, Oprah, anyone that you think could give this some national exposure. Guilty or innocent this guy should at least get a trial. Hell he might be better off rotting in county, concidering the conditions in SCDC.

some of you know me,my son has been in Lexington County for almost a year,had a PD now hired an att. and still no luck,what the hell is the matter with our system.

We have a murder who killed 2 men,buried him in his uncles back yard,got caught,got the death sentenced and guss what,he is off death row,and in county jail waiting for a life sentence.SO STUPID

I know the man you are talking about. I used to visit him, but I moved away and we lost touch. I was just thinking about him the other day and wondering whatever happened. Do you know if he is still in Lex. County, or did they finally move on his case?

ok i'm gonna put my two cents in now lol. if my memory serves me correct yes someone can be arrested, and held with or without bond, if they have a attourney then i believe it is the attourney's job to file all neccessary papers for speedy trial ect. and if memory serves me correct isn't the motto of any justice system " innocent until proven guilty" well don't they need the trial to prove anything? 10 yrs without that trial is ridicoulis (sp?) he may be guilty but noone knows without going to trial. yes i use to work for a lawyer. been many many years ago. and yes my boyfriend is in prison he did wrong , he knows he did wrong and he is doing his time for his doing wrong. we don't ask for pitty from anyone we just ask for understanding. thats all anyone can ask for. i just pray that once this man does get to go to trial an dif found guilty they give him credit for the whole 10 yrs he has already served its only fair and its the right thing to do. if he did do what is said that he done then he has already been paying for his mistake by being left in county for 10 yrs without a trial.

i mean no offense by anything said here i am just trying to quote what i remember from the law books i have delt with while i was working for a lawyer and a lil bit of opinion and i tried to keep it with in pto guidelines.

My understanding is HIS ATTORNEY is the one who did not move for a speedy trial and it was for the good of his client. Something about not taking the case to trial before a law went into effect or something along those lines. Not real sure. I believe the case has finally been completed and he is no longer at LCDC. I'm sorry. I wish I could be more certain. If memory serves me right this was finalized last spring.

i can understand why they waited then i know with my boyfriend there were several motions put in by his lawyer for a continuance i am sure his lawyer had his reasons for waiting as was stated. thanks for the extra info joshsmom. makes me want to do some research to find out where this case has gone now lol. can't sleep anymore and work isn't till later tonight so i think i will do just that.

(Lexington) - When Calen Radwill was arrested in 1995 for kidnapping and stabbing 15-year-old Brandon Vinson, few could predict he'd sit behind bars for ten years before getting a court date.

"I knew it was gonna be a long, bumpy road but I had no idea it was gonna be this long or that bumpy," said 11th Circuit Solicitor Donnie Myers, the original prosecutor in the case.

One of those "bumps" was when Solicitor Myers recused himself for what he called--at the time-- an undisclosed conflict of interest.

"It was because we found some evidence, some materials in a storage room or a storage building at the Lexington County Sheriff's Office that has never been disclosed to us, never been turned over to the defense," Myers said.

He says the finding involved a taped conversation between Radwill and his girlfriend--found while searching for three binders of evidence he says were lost by the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.

"Because we found that evidence we became witnesses in the case; and, when we informed the judge of that, the judge says 'You cannot be a prosecutor and a witness,'" Myers explained.

At the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, officials say this week was the first they've heard of missing evidence. In fact, they say Donnie Myers still has not called to say why he recused himself.

"I can't address something he's not addressed with us; and, again, if it has the importance he says it has I would've thought he would've picked up the phone and called Sheriff James R. Metts," Major John Allard said

Calen Radwill is now at Lee Correctional Institution. He pleaded guilty and was given 33 years with credit for his time at Lexington County Jail. His projected release date is October, 2015.

This is from The State newspaper 11/14/05 and 11/16/05:
Columbia lawyer Tara Shurling, an appellate defense attorney not involved with the case, said last week that Delgado might have wanted to delay the trial to save his client's life.

If Radwill had been tried quickly and sentenced to death, Shurling said, he might have exhausted his appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of convicted murderers who committed their crimes before they turned 18.

"If you think there's a chance" to receive the death sentence, Shurling said, "particularly in Lexington County with the record they have with the death penalty over there, (a speedy trial) is not something you're going to push for."

Radwill entered a special plea, known as an Alford plea, to charges of voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping and possession of a knife during a violent crime.

Under an Alford plea, a defendant doesn't admit to committing the crime, but agrees that prosecutors likely have enough evidence for a conviction. The plea is treated no differently for sentencing purposes than a guilty plea.

Radwill also pleaded guilty to two unrelated aggravated assault charges stemming from incidents involving correctional officers at the Lexington County jail in 1999 and 2002. Those sentences will be served concurrently with the more serious manslaughter and kidnapping sentences.

I was 10 years old when Brandon Vinson was brutally murdered. He was my cousin Sean's best friend. He was a constant figure at my great-grandparents house in downtown Columbia.
I remember watching WIS everyday while they looked for Brandon, waiting for him to come through the door, and say hey! I'm ok.
BUT, that never happened. He was murdered for no reason, and there will not be a true form of justice.
I have no sympathy for Mr. Radwill. I wish nothing but the worst in life for him. People have such pity for him, but what about Brandon? And his family? Do you think he was an empathetic being, when he stabbed Brandon 70 times and stuffed him in a chicken coop? I think NOT!
I'm more appalled by people saying it's not fair that he's spent 10 years in jail. The fact of the matter is, he's serving a reduced sentence and he'll be out of jail if he's lucky in 8 years.
BOO HOO.
Some justice system we have. Apparently you can murder someone, before you're an "adult" cop a plea, and serve a manslaughter sentence. Awesome.

No one here is saying what Mr. Radwill did was right, Miss Elizabeth. It wasn't - no doubt about it. My heart goes out to you with your loss.

Just stating facts about what has transpired with his crime.

The right to speedy "due process" is just that: a right. However, in this case, because he didn't get speedy "due process," it actually benefited him as explained above.

I don't know anything about the guy, but perhaps that the Good Lord above intended for Mr. Radwill to have some "influence" on someone he was to meet in prison or the jail.......that is a possibility. Perhaps he is a changed man and will tell other people incarcerated the wrongs of a life of crime and what it will get them....that no good can come of it.